I Just Do
by Abandon Structure
Summary: Reid meets his new neighbor who turns out to be pretty awesome.


**A/N: **Okay, so I'm living in the middle of a city in Korea. I've been watching Criminal Minds for three days, craving a hot dog for six weeks, and miss the beach. This short is just a fluff piece, really. Reid is my favorite CM character and I just wanted him to have a happy beginning of something. Let me know if you like it!

Reid chewed on the end of his pen as he lifted the file closer to his face, struggling to focus on the words in front of him. Normally he had no troubles focusing on his work, but today he just felt off.

Probably it was the music. He couldn't make out the words, just the steady thump of drums and the rough chords of a guitar, both of which were proving to be an incredible distraction.

He wasn't really great at confrontation – he tended to avoid being assertive, a leftover reaction from childhood, but he was an adult and he was trying to do his _fucking _job.

"Enough," he growled, following his line of irritation out his door to his neighbors. He was so caught up in his agitated state he barely heard or felt his fist pounding at his neighbors door.

There was no immediate response so he knocked again, frowning when, after a moment, he heard the crashing sound of something falling and breaking, followed by a loud cuss from a decidedly female voice.

He was still frowning when the door swung open and a pretty blue-eyed brunette smiled weakly up at him while clutching her knee.

"Hi," she greeted with a pained smile. "Can I help you?"

Reid frowned at her.

"Where's Mr. Danners?" He asked, peering at the apartment behind her and taking in all the boxes with the dawning realization that wherever Mr. Danners was, it wasn't here.

"Oh, he moved," the girl peered behind her, following his line of sight before turning to look at him again. "About a week ago, I think."

"You think?" Reid blinked as he looked down at her. "Wouldn't you know for sure? I mean, you are living in his apartment."

"Yeah, but I just got here today," the girl gave him a confused look. "Didn't you see the moving trucks."

Reid closed his mouth, feeling kind of embarrassed because he'd been so involved in his work he actually hadn't.

"Whatever, you were probably busy," the girl waved off his confusion with a wave of her hand and a pretty smile as she straightened. "Anyways, how can I help you?"

"Um, well," Reid was starting to lose his steam. "Your music…"

"Oh!" The girl blinked, realization dawning as she blushed the prettiest shade of pink. "I am so sorry!"

She darted backwards, and Reid barely had time to shout out a warning before she ran into on of her boxing, stumbling and catching herself with a mumbled curse before reaching her stereo and turning it off.

"I forgot I had it on," she informed Reid from her position.

"You did?" Reid was surprised and didn't manage to hide it. "I would have thought with how loud it was it'd be almost impossible to not notice it."

"I get a little overly focused sometimes," the girl offered, making her way back to the door, this time stepping around the boxes. "Things kind of get away from me. I'm Lindsey, by the way."

"Spencer," Reid introduced, taking her offered hand without even thinking about it. "Spencer Reid."

"Spencer," the girl smiled. "I like it."

"Lindsey's a pretty name, too," Reid could feel the verbal rush upon him and had a moment to think '_Not again' _before he was off on a verbal tangent.

"It's Old English, meaning island of the Linden trees. It was originally a male name, but became a popular name for females in the twentieth century."

"That is so cool," Lindsey grinned at him and Reid actually took a startled step back.

"Excuse me?" He questioned, positive he hadn't heard her correctly.

"That name thing," Lindsey was still smiling. "How did you do it?"

"I'm a genius," Reid replied automatically, mentally screaming at himself. "I mean, I'm good with names."

He hoped his hasty correction had worked. He didn't hide the fact he was a genius, but it usually wasn't something he led with in a conversation, especially with a woman. A lot of women weren't usually impressed since it made him seem more like an asshole than anything else.

"Genius?" Lindsey perked up at that, opening her door wider and Reid actually winced at the mess behind her. "Really? Cause I could use a genius. I've spent the last two hours trying to put my entertainment center together but as you can see…."

"This is what crashed?" Reid craned his head to take in the collapsed pile of rubble.

"Almost killed me," Lindsey confirmed cheerfully. "Listen, even though I'm all for female equality and all that jazz, I'm honestly shit with putting things together. Any chance you'd be willing to help me out?"

Not exactly the best with this stuff either, normally Reid would have taken this chance to bow out, stuttering some excuse about paperwork he didn't have, but oddly, for once, he didn't really want to.

"I'll give it a shot," he replied honestly, stepping inside her apartment. "But I'm not sure I'll have any better luck."

"That's okay," Lindsey smiled. "I'm sure between the two of us we'll figure something out."

* * *

_**Three days later….**_

Reid returned home after a particularly nasty case feeling mentally exhausted. He loved his job, he honestly did, but he couldn't deny the toll it took.

"Hey stranger," Lindsey greeted him as he stood with his key in the door. "Want to go to the beach?"

Reid blinked at her.

"It's Wednesday," he finally replied. "Don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I want to go to the beach now," Lindsey shrugged her shoulders. "Keep me company? You never know what kind of weirdos are out and about this time of night."

"You want me to come with you to protect you?" While he felt an undeniable thrill at the thought, he also felt a near overwhelming since of disbelief. He was the person least likely to intimidate anybody. He honestly couldn't fathom what was going through Lindsey's head at that moment.

"Come on," Lindsey pouted at him. "I'll buy you a hot dog."

They sat on a bench overlooking the pier, each holding a hot dog as they watched the sun set.

"It's beautiful," Lindsey stated, staring at the sunset with a wistful quality to her expression.

"Yes," Reid agreed, watching her distractedly. "It is."

Lindsey turned again, smiling at him as she gave him a nudge with her elbow.

"I'm talking about the sunset, silly." Reid blushed, flushing as he glanced down at the hot dog in his hand.

"Right. So was I," he hastily recovered.

"It's okay," Lindsey surprised him by holding his arm, cuddling into his side while he sat there, stiff as a board and wondering what the hell he was supposed to do next. "I think you're beautiful, too."

Reid really couldn't think of anything to say to that so they sat there, her curled into his side as he gradually relaxed, his heart fluttering uneasily in his chest.

"This is perfect," Lindsey murmured sleepily against his chest.

"Hmmmm?" Reid questioned, drawing his gaze away from the darkened skies to glance down at the girl on his chest.

"You know what could make it better, though?" Lindsey perked up, straightening and leaving Reid with a sense of loss until she grabbed his hand with hers.

"What?" He asked, genuinely curious as to her answer.

"Hot coco," she replied, getting to her feet and tugging him upright. "I swear I saw a coffee shop back here someplace."

"You are a very strange person," Reid noted, feeling a rush of pleasure at the feeling of her hand in his own. Realizing his own words, he opened his mouth ready to apologize, but Lindsey dumbfounded him with the brilliance of her smile.

"Thanks," was what she said, and suddenly she was curled back into his side as the two of them started to walk back towards the coffee place. "You're pretty cool yourself."

Reid smiled at her, squeezing her hand tighter.

He couldn't call it love or lust, really, but the strange feeling in his chest was something, something he really, really liked.

"Spencer," Lindsey spoke. "It's French, it means to dispense. The English meaning is better though. To give out goods. And you're a good guy, Spencer."

"How do you know?" Spencer asked, curious. Lindsey placed a hand over his heart and bent her head to smile up at him.

"I just do."


End file.
